A building that caught fire at the Wilbur-Ellis fertilizer and blending facility completely collapsed within a couple of hours once it caught fire. Firefighting personnel said part of the reason the building was engulfed in flames so quickly is that it was made entirely of lumber rather than metal due to fertilizer’s corrosive impacts on metal materials.
October 23, 2022
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Fire destroys Wilbur-Ellis fertilizer plant
MOSES LAKE - Sunday afternoon a building at the Wilbur-Ellis fertilizer and blending facility, located at 14903 Road 1.3 Southeast, caught fire and burned to the ground. “This facility is not very old and they built it specifically to where it is 100% wood construction so that it doesn’t have any corrosion issues with the fertilizer,” said Grant County Fire District 5 Battalion Chief Robert Horst. “Fertilizer will corrode metal so they built it 100% wood so that's why it went (up in flames) so fast and so quick. One, because of all of the fertilizer but two, because of being 100% wood construction.” Grant County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Kyle Foreman said a call about black smoke coming from the elevator was placed at about 3:15 p.m...